SoaH book two: The forsaken Storm
by Athena'sPride95
Summary: PLEASE READ SHADOW OF A HERO BOOK ONE FIRST!. Percy is disgraced, accused of murder and run out of his home by the ones he loved most. What now? As Percy begins his campaign of vengeance against Aphrodite what awaits him in the world of monsters and men, and what will Annabeth do when she comes to terms with her horrible mistake? T for language.
1. Prologue: Punishment

**The new book is here! (Or at least the prologue is)  
I've posted this now instead of later when I've written more to see if the interest is here before I continue. Reads and Reviews mean that more chapters get posted, so if you want more of the Forsaken Storm please read and leave a review.  
Enjoy.**

**Athena's Wisdom to you.**

* * *

Prologue: Punishment

Two women stood beside a river, the blackness of night surrounding them and obscuring the nearby scenery. The only source of light was from the fast flowing torrent of the river itself, which glowed a faint, milky white illuminating a black sand beach on either side. At least it seemed to be night but in fact the absolute blackness could just as easily have been a cave roof. One so incomprehensibly high it could easily have been a starless sky.

The women themselves were a strange pair to be sure. One was young, no more than twelve or thirteen with long auburn hair tied up in a tight bun. Her clothes resembled that of a Special Forces commando in winter camouflage but silver instead of white and she was surrounded by a shimmering Aura of the same colour. Clearly the girl was not human but something more powerful.  
A Goddess maybe?  
She glared hatefully at the second woman beside her. This individual was older closer to late fifteen or early sixteen, taller and with darker hair but in a decidedly sorrier state. Her clothes were similar to that of the auburn haired one but duller, singed and slashed as if she'd had a knife fight with someone inside a burning building. She was apparently not there of her own volition either, her hands were shackled behind her back and areas of her exposed skin showed the scars of physical abuse.

The dark haired girl attempted to speak but the auburn haired girl delivered an open palmed slap to her captive forcing her to her knees.  
"Do not argue with me girl" She growled, speaking with an authority well beyond her apparent years "You brought this upon yourself!" The second girl took a moment to respond composing herself.  
When she did her voice was shaky but calm and defiant "You can't justify this. My actions were simply a matter of honour and fulfilling my duty as a friend. There is nothing wrong with that."  
The auburn haired girl slapped her prisoner again "Do not attempt to change the facts. You know full well that it was your thoughts and feelings that were treacherous and not your actions. However even those were borderline sedition"  
She knelt, grasping the girl's face with slim fingers she yanked her head around to look into her eyes. "You can stop hoping for a miracle. No one will be coming to prevent justice from being served here. Especially not _him, _he is disgraced, cast out and probably already dead"  
With that statement she rose and walked away a few paces gazing off into the blackness.

The dark haired girl lost what little confidence she had been holding onto and began to sob pleading with her captor to let her live.  
This apparently surprised the glowing female as she turned back with a look of surprise "I would not kill another woman. But you, whom I trusted above all others, broke your promise and now punishment must be apportioned"  
Captive girl stopped sobbing, dread causing the tears to stop flowing. "What do you mean?" She enquired fearfully.  
The Goddess stepped behind her whispering in her ear "You will be as you were before I saved you, a girl lost and alone in the world at the mercy of those who inhabit it. Only this time you will not have anyone to help you. Or even your memories of your previous life!"

Then she placed one boot in her captors back and pushed.

With a gasp of terror the older girl fell forward into the churning white water. Her head went under and she immediately began to thrash trying to break the surface, but her hands were still shackled behind her and the Goddess' boot on her back kept her pinned down. The only emotion that registered on the auburn girl's face was contempt. She broke the surface for less than a second, not nearly long enough to draw breath, before the current yanked her head under again. The thrashing continued for almost a minute more before the exertions became weaker. Then finally, she stopped.

* * *

**_Hell's Kitchen; New York_**

In a poorly lit, filthy back alley another girl woke from her dream with a start. Terror clutched at her heart from the scene she had just witnessed in her sleep, though why, she couldn't tell. She had no idea who the two women had been, nor what she had just witnessed. In fact she had no idea about anything much, but she felt some kind of connection with the manacled girl as if she knew her, or at least met her before. She tried to recall the girl's face but the dream was already becoming fuzzy slipping away with the sound of rainwater dripping from the rusted fire escape above her.

She sat there a few moments longer until the sound of a siren snapped her back to reality. Out on the road at the end of the alley a police car pulled up to the curb and two police officers stepped out. One was a middle aged African American with a moustache the size of a yard brush, sergeant stripes showed on his upper arm. She knew him and that meant she knew what was coming next, time to put on her innocent face. She rose from the dilapidated sofa that she had been laying on, slung her tattered rucksack across her shoulders in case she had to bolt, and walked towards the alley entrance.  
The sergeant spotted her as she emerged from the shadow of a building "Ah there you are Blue" he said casually sitting on the bonnet of the patrol car.

He called her that. Probably because when he'd first met her on the day she woke up, after she'd been caught stealing from a convenience store, she'd had no idea who she was or where she came from.  
Lucky for her the sergeant was an old hand and sympathetic to her plight "Well then" he'd asked "What do you want to be called?"  
When she'd just shrugged he'd looked at her for a long moment.  
Finally he'd said "You've got some fantastic eyes. I've never seen such a shade of electric blue . . . How 'bout that?"  
She thought about it for a moment **_Blue?_** **_I suppose it's better than nothing._**  
She nodded "yeah Blue sounds ok I suppose"  
"Alright then Blue, do you remember _anything_? Like who gave you that scar?"  
**_Scar?_** Blue turned to look through the shop window behind her. Sure enough a thin pink scar marked her pale face, running from just below her left eye to mid-way down her cheek. The sight of it made her shiver, not from cold but from fear. Fear of something that for the life of her she couldn't remember.  
"No idea" she'd said turning back to the sergeant "just like everything else".

Now he was leaning against his car and gazing at her intently gauging her reaction to his words "We got a call saying that a local had seen a girl lifting groceries from the back of his pickup, tinned food and soft drinks. You wouldn't know anything about that would you?"  
It was a rhetorical question and she knew it but still she shrugged and said "how would I know Jerry? If people are dumb enough to leave their stuff unattended in a neighbourhood like this, what can they expect?"  
He smirked, obviously not convinced, and held out his hand. She groaned and unslung her backpack. He took it; rifling briefly through its contents then zipped it back up and placed it between his feet.  
"What are going to do about this then hmm?"  
Blue bit her lip and said nothing. If she said something stupid then she could be in real trouble.  
No one spoke for a few more seconds then finally Jerry sighed and picked up the bag again "Look you don't have to live like this you know. There are plenty of hostels and charities that'd take you in"  
Blue snorted derisively "not likely"  
"Three times in the last month alone Blue, even one alleged mugging. I can only cover for you for so long. I'm sure there's someone out there who would help you, you just need to spend a little more time lookin for them and a little less stealing from them."  
Jerry glanced over his shoulder at his colleague who had been watching silently from the other side of the patrol car. The other officer nodded almost imperceptibly.

* * *

Jerry handed blue her bag, with the goods still inside "This is the last time Blue. God knows you need it" he said "but next time I _will_ have to bring you in and if anyone but me were to catch up with you they might not be so lenient if you know what I mean."  
She did.  
She muttered a quick thank you to jerry and his partner then turned and bolted back down the alley. Approaching the brick wall at the end she jumped against it kicking off and grabbing the railing of the fire escape. She vaulted over dropped down the other side of the wall and sprinted off into the streets of New York.  
Jerry's partner whistled appreciatively as he watched "that girl has some serious skills. She could give the whole NYPD a hard time"  
Jerry turned to his colleague opening the door of the car "She's not a hardened criminal Mike she's just a lost girl"  
"Sorry" said mike seating himself in the passenger seat "did you mean what you told her?"  
"About what?" jerry asked sliding into the driver's seat.  
"That whole melodramatic piece about finding someone"

Jerry looked back down the alley at where Blue had disappeared "I hope so mike I really do" He remembered the scar on her otherwise attractive face "Whatever she did, whatever happened before. She didn't deserve this."


	2. Chapter 1: Pain

Chapter 1: Pain

**_Camp Half-Blood; Three months earlier_**

Jason was looking forward to visiting Camp Half-Blood. Until he arrived.  
As he scaled Half Blood Hill towards the tall pine tree at its summit he was thinking about what he was going to say to Piper when he saw her. It had taken much consoling with himself and building his self-confidence, something he never usually lacked, but he had finally worked up the courage to ask her something he couldn't after the instability at the end of the Giant war. He was going to try and convince her to move with him to Camp Jupiter and take up membership in the legion. The entire time he'd been on his quest half his mind had been on working out reasons and arguments he could present for every possible situation, a fact that had nearly got him incinerated by a demon supermodel in Paris. Since Gaia had gone back to sleep and with the defeat of her Giants it had become safer for demigods to travel abroad. Italy and Greece was still a big no-no though, unless you wanted to commit suicide. Generally things weren't _as_ bad as they had been but were also no better than they were originally. If you consider originally being before Gaia had begun to wake, or rather been conscious enough to cause trouble.

Jason's convoluted and confusing train of thought was interrupted as he neared the top of the hill. He could tell something was wrong before he even reached the crest. As a demigod he could cross the boundary line but it also meant that things within the camp could cross the boundary to him, including sound. This was important at this particular moment in time for one big reason; there was none. At this time of day he should have been able to hear the faint ambient noises of activity within the camp but he heard nothing.  
**_Maybe there's a meeting or something? _**He thought briefly.  
This idea was driven from his mind, and so were all thoughts of having Piper move in with him when he reached the summit and gazed down in disbelief at the scene before him. The first thing was a tightly clustered group of celestial bronze arrows stuck in the dirt near the boundary line. He could tell from the angle at which the protruded from the earth that they had been fired at someone or something that had been stood there, the tightness of the cluster also told him that the archers had been aiming for one specific area of the target.  
**_Something attacked camp?_** He groaned aloud as he was thinking. C**_ouldn't the forces of darkness just take a century off and let me enjoy the remainder of my already, considerably shortened life?_**

His gaze travelled over the rest of the valley and as it did he grew more and more worried. Campers wandered around with weapons in hand looking shell shocked. Some just sat around gazing off into space, or looking thoroughly dejected. He saw several slings and one camper in a wheelchair with both his legs in casts. The double doors to the infirmary were flung wide and Jason could see Apollo campers running in and out with medical supplies and rolls of bloody bandages. As he watched two dragged a huge crate out of the nearby storage shed labelled A&N, which he could only assume meant Ambrosia and Nectar.  
**_There must be some serious injuries if they need that much. I need to find out what's going on._**

He immediately began to head for the big house; sure that Chiron would be able to explain what was happening. To his surprise he found Piper sat on the porch flipping her Parazonium end over end in her hand, looking stricken.  
"Piper" he called as he drew nearer "What's wrong? Did something happen?"  
Piper looked up sharply and for a moment Jason registered fear in her bloodshot eyes.  
**_Why in Olympus would she be afraid of _****me****_?_**  
Then she leaped up and immediately tackled him burying herself in his arms sobbing uncontrollably whilst Katoptris lay forgotten in the dirt.  
"Whoa, whoa piper" he said running his hands through her hair trying to calm her down. "Take a breath and tell me what in Hades is going on here".  
Piper hugged him for a few more seconds then took a step back and picked up her dagger sliding it back into the sheath on her belt. Then she began to talk, but what she said made no sense to Jason.  
"Jason I'm so sorry. You must be furious. He's not dead but Chiron took him into the big house for his personal attention" She spoke so fast that Jason nearly couldn't understand her. She rushed the words out as if she was worried he'd stop her.  
"Slow down, you're turning blue. What's happened?"  
She carried on; heedless of his words "I don't know what condition he's in right now. I haven't been allowed in. Nobody has, except Annabeth".  
Jason was immediately apprehensive. If Annabeth was the only one allowed to sit with this 'him' then it was probably Percy.  
"Chiron's worried about the Roman response. After all it doesn't look good that your replacement was seriously wounded on Greek soil."  
"Replacement?" Jason put up a hand to stop her, now anxious _and_ confused "What replacement?"  
Piper's distress was overridden by her surprise "Your replacement Jason. That Venus kid who came to the ambassador's council last week whilst you were on your quest for Vulcan"  
Jason was now anxious, confused . . . and suspicious.  
"Ok well there's two things wrong with that" he stated "firstly Hazel and I were on a quest that _Venus_ sent us on, not Vulcan. A Wild goose chase as it turned out, stolen by some children of Pluto at the start of the Second World War then later destroyed. The place where it was stored was buried under a thousand tonnes of concrete. . ."  
He caught the look Piper was giving him and realised he had been ranting.  
He cleared his throat awkwardly "Secondly, the council is scheduled for this week anyway. I realise I'm a few days overdue but Reyna would have contacted me if she was going to send someone else instead".

Piper was silent for a few seconds, her eyes growing wide, apparently absorbing the implications that Jason's simple statement of fact must have.  
"Chiron needs to hear this right away!" she cried grasping Jason's arm and tugging him towards to door. When Jason was hauled into the big house he was greeted with an image that resembled nothing less than a scene from a tragic play. A boy lay on the long sofa near the fire, his head supported with numerous pillows and his chest bandaged and bloody. Chiron stood over him in full centaur form chanting something in Ancient Greek. It took a moment for Jason's Latin wired brain to switch to the older tongue but he recognised it as a healing spell. In an armchair next to the fire sat Annabeth with her head in her hands her shoulder's shaking every now and then as she sobbed silently. Both were oblivious to his and Piper's entry until she tentatively tried to get their attention.  
"Chiron?" no response. "Chiron Jason's here."  
On hearing Jason's name the centaur stopped chanting and twisted to look at the pair. He seemed momentarily stunned to see Jason then he was himself again.  
"Jason my boy, I'm glad you came. I'm afraid your colleague's condition is not good." He gestured to the wounded boy on the sofa "I've done everything I can for him but he won't respond to any of my spells and Ambrosia and Nectar have no effect."

Jason looked at the slight figure before him and didn't have the slightest idea who he was.  
"Chiron" he said quietly "I don't know what he told you but that boy is not a member of the 12th Legion. I've never seen him before in my life"  
Chiron was clearly unsurprised by the response "I had suspected as much for some time but without evidence I could not act. It was possible that I was mistaken and so making accusations against a possible envoy of Rome could have proved disastrous".  
Jason nodded "I see, but I assure you that that boy is no legionnaire and you need not fear the wrath of Rome." He looked over at Annabeth to see that she still had her head in her hands but she was no longer crying. "Annabeth, what's got you so rattled? You're the last person I'd expect to go to pieces over a political dispute" he glanced around the room realising that the one person he expected to be with her was not. "Where's Percy anyway? When I heard you were here I thought . . ." but he didn't get the chance to finish.  
In slightly less time than it took to blink Annabeth had her dagger at his throat, her grey eyes held so much rage the colour seemed to churn like mini hurricanes "Don't ever mention that name again" she hissed "Not if you don't want another Roman death to deal with?"  
Piper stepped in quickly, layering her voice with charm speak to get Annabeth to back off "Annabeth put the dagger away and calm down no one here is your enemy". For a moment she didn't move then she slowly stepped back lowering her weapon in the process, but she didn't sit down instead she just stood staring furiously at Jason.

The tension and silence was broken when another figure burst into the big house. Jason turned to look, slowly, wary of what Annabeth might do if he averted his gaze as she still had her dagger out. Rachael Elizabeth Dare stood panting just inside the threshold, her black oracle's cloak still flapping in the breeze from the open door before it swung shut again.  
"What's going on?" she asked before she'd even stopped panting "I'd just arrived at the airport when I had a horrible premonition". She closed her eyes remembering "A dark forest, figures following figures, the camp fire roaring black flame and a sense of pain and betrayal strong enough to burn the soul". She opened her eyes again and they came to rest on Jacob. She Squeaked in terror making Jason flinch "what is THAT?" she yelled pointing at Jacob "And how is it bleeding?"  
Jason looked back at Annabeth. As he's suspected she had turned her anger on the red head that had just finished speaking "Rachael I swear I'm going to . . ."  
"Not do anything you will undoubtedly regret" Chiron interjected before a massive girl fight could ensue. "Now Rachael" he turned back to the Oracle "take a deep breath and tell me what you see" he glanced at the wounded figure, now more disturbed than concerned "we simply see a wounded boy".

Rachael took several more seconds of deep breathing before she opened her mouth to speak, but when she did no trace of surprise or fear remained. "What I see" she said slowly "is put simply weird yet beautiful"  
"Rachael" Chiron's interruption showed his mounting agitation.  
"Ok but it's hard. I'm seeing a strange crystalline structure but humanoid in shape. The crystals may have been pink at one point, I can still see a tinge of colour, but now they're grey and rapidly going black." She stared hard for a few moments more "that's weird" she muttered again.  
"What Rachael? What's weird?" Piper whispered staring, terrified, at her.  
"The crystals are cracking. Is it dying?"  
Everyone turned back to the boy that wasn't really a boy. Chiron muttered something in ancient Greek his hands hovering over the form on the sofa.  
"Rachael is right. It's life signs are fading, there's nothing I can do. It's going to die."  
"No _he's _not" Annabeth shouldered Jason and Chiron aside to get at Jacob "and stop calling him 'it'. His name is Jacob!"

As Jason watched she knelt next to Jacob and reached out a hand to where the bandage covered a sword wound. Jason got the feeling that touching it right now would be a _really _bad idea, but Annabeth was so distraught she didn't seem to be of the same opinion. She reached out until her hand met up against some kind of resistance. A pink aura flared at her touch like some kind of energy shield, keeping her hand a centimetre or so above his skin.  
"Looks like it doesn't want you touching it either" he told her.  
"SHUT UP!" she screamed at him. She kept one hand where it was but with the other she reached out to touch Jacob's face. The contact seemed to be too much of a strain on the creature's remaining strength and it groaned.  
"Annabeth don't!" cried Rachael lurching forward.  
The magical pink shield flared once more across the figure's entire frame then died.

Annabeth's hands made contact with the form and everything got very bad very quickly.


	3. Chapter 2: And Prophecy

Chapter 2: ,and prophecy

**_Big house_**

"Annabeth don't!" Rachael cried lurching forward.  
Jason wasn't sure why but he had a feeling she was thinking what he was **_its shielding for a reason. Touching it would be a very bad idea." _**He was proved right. Jacob's pink aura flared across his entire figure then died entirely and Annabeth's hand made contact, becoming soaked with the blood from his wound. Her entire body suddenly clenched and she began to scream. A horrible painful sound like you might expect from someone on the receiving end of a flame thrower. Instinctively he and the others scrambled backwards. She violently convulsed, throwing her head back, pink light blazing from her eyes. Horrified Jason fought down his fear and tried to step forward to help his friend but Piper held him back.  
"NO Jason. Stay back!"  
"But it's killing her! We can't just let her burn!"  
But still she held him back, and the four of them watched in horror as Jacob's true form became visible to all.

It was exactly as Rachael had described; a crystal human, but black and cracked. The crystals began to fill with pink light, seeping through the cracks and growing ever brighter. A high pitched sound began to emanate from them and Jason recognised the signs of imminent explosion a second or two before it happened.  
"GET DOWN" he roared diving for a nearby table. The other's followed suit, even Chiron but despite his better judgment he put kept his eyes on the explosion.  
The creature detonated with the force of a small bomb, shattering and sending deadly crystal shards flying in every direction. They looked sharp enough to shred anything they came into contact with but they dissolved in to sparkling dust before making contact with _any_ surface, which was fortunate to say the least.

As a result Jason, Rachael, Piper and Chiron were relatively unaffected except for carpet burn and momentary deafness. Annabeth though was too close and wasn't so lucky. The shockwave from the explosion flung her across the room like a ragdoll where she slammed into a tall bookcase bringing the piles of heavy tomes crashing down on top of her.  
Briefly Jason thought **_the biggest reader at camp injured by_** **_books? Oh the irony!_** Then he was up with the others and helping to dig the Daughter of Athena out of the mountain of books.

* * *

**_Under a mountain of books_**

The ringing in Annabeth's head didn't stop when she returned to consciousness. Neither did the pain. It blotted out everything else leaving no room to remember what had happened or what was happening. It even prevented her from seeing. Then a '_monster anatomy for veterinarians' _was moved away from her face to let light in and she realised that the blackness was caused by the many thick volumes she was buried under. That thought didn't ease the pain though. Her hands were still burned, her body still stung with hundreds of tiny cuts and she was finding it difficult to breath. She was swiftly dug out by Jason, Piper and Rachael whilst Chiron fetched nectar and Ambrosia out of his office. Together they eased onto a practically obliterated sofa.

"Annabeth?" Piper asked quietly. Which Annabeth was grateful for because her head throbbed like she had an Olympian sized hangover. "Annabeth where are you injured? Tell me where it hurts"  
Annabeth tried but instead of word's she just coughed blood.  
"Oh Gods" Rachael murmured crouching next to Piper. She applied pressure to Annabeth's chest and she winced in pain. "Ribs broken, one might be in her lung" she said quickly "Chiron hurry up!" she yelled over her shoulder "this is going to need more than an N&A treatment."  
Piper stood "Right, I'll go down to the infirmary and get cabin 8 to send the best medic they can spare, also Hecate" she was already halfway to the door "I hope the twins are as good with restoration magic as they are with fireballs." Annabeth would have laughed but it hurt too much to try. Then the pain began to close in again and everything faded to black as she lost consciousness.

Annabeth noticed two things when she woke up. One was that she didn't feel any pain or even any trace of it, and the second was the pair of faces one male, one female inches from her own.  
"Hey ben" she said casually "Hi Jen. I suppose I have you to thank?"  
Chiron spoke from behind them "You do indeed. Alright off you go you two"  
The pair smiled broadly at Annabeth before scampering out of the big house door. There were four other people in the room. Chiron, Piper, Rachael and, Annabeth was surprised to notice, Jason.  
**_Why's he here? I thought Jacob said he wouldn't be coming because he was on a quest. _**  
"How do you feel? Do you remember what happened?" Chiron asked.

She took a moment to sit up and look around the room before answering now that her brain actually had the available space to process what she was seeing. She was still on the shredded sofa with blackened scorch marks on it and the carpet for several centimetres around. But whatever had caused the explosion must have had a very small blast radius and almost no shrapnel because everything beyond the scorched area was untouched. The pile of books was still on the floor; obviously putting them back hadn't been a her eyes came to rest on the digital clock on the mantel piece above the fireplace, or more specifically the date displayed on it.  
"How did I lose a week?" she asked incredulous.  
"What?" Jason replied, obviously not understanding.  
Annabeth pointed to the clock. "I only dosed off on the porch and I wake up with broken ribs under a pile of books remembering sweet FA about the last week. What is going on here?"

The first response was from Piper.  
"Oh shit"  
"Piper" Chiron berated her "There is no need for that kind of language. Although in this situation I would be inclined to agree with you."  
There was silence again, Piper and Rachael staring in disbelief at her, Jason looking troubled and Chiron gazing at her with unfathomable brown eyes. She began to grow uncomfortable and looked around the room again noticing a distinct lack of the one person she wanted to see right now. "Where's Percy?"  
"BIG OH SHI…" Rachael began to mimic Piper's earlier sentiment before Chiron actually cuffed her round the back of the head, shutting her up abruptly.  
"Annabeth" he talked slowly and quietly "Are you saying that you have no idea of the events of the past few days?"  
Annabeth began to get irritated "Yes that's what I just said now will someone please explain?"

They did, and Annabeth wished to all the Gods that they hadn't.

She'd cheated on Percy with Jacob who had turned out to be some crystal, _thing. _She had deliberately bated him, Percy had fought it and killed it and she had had him driven from camp as a murderer? No, no she couldn't believe it. She wouldn't. She felt her head begin to throb again, disjointed images flashing behind her eyes. Jacob, Percy, a black campfire, Thalia pointing a crossbow at her then Percy again yelling and glaring with eyes that physically glowed green. She couldn't stand any of it, it was tearing her apart. She lay with her head buried in a cushion, crying her heart out and disgusted with her very existence. She had betrayed that one person on this or any other plane of existence that she loved with all her soul, and now he was gone. It was somehow worse that he wasn't actually dead.

"So what do we do now?" Jason finally asked after Annabeth had soaked the cushion.  
"I'm afraid there's nothing we can do" Chiron's voice came from some distance off along with the clinking of glass.  
Annabeth whipped her head up from the cushion horrified at what her mentor was saying "What do you mean there's nothing we can do?" she demanded "We need to find Percy! I could contact his mother. He will have gone there first, we have to bring him back!"  
"Annabeth" Chiron finished replacing the half empty Nectar Jar before turning to her.  
His tone was melancholy but still had an edge of iron to it "I hate to remind you but it was _you_ that effectively drove him from camp. Of all people hearing from you may only fuel his hatred. He also declared war on Aphrodite and as such violated the oath he took never to work against Olympus. The Styx will not let that go unpunished."  
Annabeth felt tears again. Piper tried to comfort her using charm speak but even that was no good, she was a desperate girl now. "But I can't live with myself knowing this. What am I supposed to do?"

At the question Rachael stiffened and began to fall, but Jason caught her before she could brain herself on the coffee table. They recognised the signs of a prophecy and Piper was immediately out of the armchair and Rachael was in. The group listened in growing terror as Rachael, eyes glowing and emerald smoke gathering around her, spoke in her triple layered, serpent tinged voice uttering the terrible words.

"_Five survived of the seven must unite as before,  
Against the last, now a shadow, a hero no more.  
Aid Death and guide time, he may bring about Olympus' end,  
The Forsaken Storm his only friend._

_Another war of loyal and spurned,  
Failure rises with numbers turned.  
A lover's voice to decide your fate,  
A world born of forgiveness or hate."_

Prophecy complete the mist receded and Rachael returned to normality by coughing up vestiges of the green cloud but other than that the prophecy was greeted with deathly silence.  
After nearly a minute Chiron said sombrely "Well Annabeth it appears you have your answer. Jason if you would contact Centurion Lévesque at Camp Jupiter, and Piper could you please retrieve Leo from bunker nine. I fear we have just received another great Prophecy. And it is already in motion.


	4. Chapter 3: Styx Strikes

**Second project update****: Currently the voting stands thus  
Second generation: 2  
Percy 107: 1 (by the same reader but posted on both books)  
SHIFT: 1  
Remember to leave your views on which of these you would like (read author's note at the end of book one if you don't know what I am talking about).  
Come the next update I will begin writing whichever had the most votes, however many that may be so remember to let me know which one you want to see and feel free to make your own suggestions.**

* * *

Chapter 3: Styx strikes

**_New York; 3 blocks from the Jackson apartment_**

Percy decided that of all the ways to get to his mum's apartment, riding on the back of a tow truck away from a place he had only a few hours ago considered his home, to escape being killed by those he had loved most was his least favourite. Still, as he sprinted along the pavement paying no mind to the mortals he heedlessly shoved aside, he knew it was necessary.  
"Your mother is in danger Perseus. Zeus' rage grows at the knowledge of what you have done but Poseidon will not allow him to harm you . . . Yet but The Styx will not allow you to escape punishment" Cronus had warned him in the brief snatch of sleep he had caught during the trip. "I foresee a terrible fate for your mother as a result"  
"What fate?" Percy had demanded. He had lost everything else. If he lost his mother too he thought that not even his desire for revenge would be cause enough for him to continue.  
"That I cannot see but your broken oath upon the Styx will ensure that whatever it is will cause you great pain too"

So now Percy was charging up town towards his mother's apartment hoping that he wasn't too late. As he ran his mind drifted back to the events of the night before, or more specifically the _three_ events that kept his hatred for Aphrodite burning.  
First was what Jacob had told him in the moments before his death **_you have proven yourself worthy._** **_You need be tested no further._**  
The total destruction of his life had been as a result of the love Goddess' games! What was worse Annabeth, the one girl who he trusted and loved more than anything or anyone had been a party to it. He had thought that if she were under an enchantment then once Jacob had been defeated then she would have gone back to normal but no. Instead as Jacob lay dying she'd actually tried to kill him and Thalia, who was the last person he'd expected to stick up for him even if they were friends, had saved his life.

Secondly was that Annabeth had betrayed him unforgivably. She'd given away his Achilles heel to everyone in an attempt to ensure his death. If he hadn't been granted inhuman agility by the curse he would undoubtedly be a Percy-kebab on the cabin green right now and no one would have given a fuck. Well nobody except maybe his mum . . . and Thalia. The thought caught Percy in the chest, as it did every time his mind wandered back to the deceased daughter of Zeus.

The last girl on Earth who'd cared. She'd helped him, defended him and saved his life whilst his ex-girlfriend and all the others would have seen him dead. And how had she been rewarded? She'd been blasted into oblivion by Artemis for, he could only suppose, breaking her oath not to show affection to a male. This in turn led to another thought.  
**_She had feelings for me. Surely otherwise Artemis wouldn't have taken her.  
What does it matter?_** He asked himself **_Even if she did she's gone now._** His chest began to ache with emotion again and he ran harder, his mum's apartment less than a block away now.**_ By every sacred river I swear they'll pay Artemis, Aphrodite and Ares alike. I'll destroy them myself._**

He skidded to a halt on the corner. Across the street the doors to his mother's apartments stood open but the doorman stood eyeing passers-by as if daring them to start a fight. Percy didn't cross immediately. There was every chance that Chiron had already poisoned his mother's mind, told her he was a wanted murderer. If he went in there she might want him to give himself up to Olympus or worse might drive him out as his "friends" had done. It was even possible that there were other demi-gods here already waiting to kill him the moment he entered the flat. He took a deep breath, resting a hand on the pen in his pocket, and stepped off the curb. When he reached the other side he didn't break stride marching straight toward the doorman with the intention of either talking his way in or punching the guy's lights out and going in anyway. As it turned out he didn't need to do either. The doorman nodded and doffed his cap to Percy as he passed, the same way as he always had.

This was a good sign as it could mean one of two things; either Percy's mother didn't know about the events at camp yet or she didn't believe them. He hoped it was the former as it would make his task so much easier if he could tell her the story from his perspective without any lies making his words difficult to believe. Knowing his luck though he doubted that was the case and the doorman had let him pass simply because he didn't know any better. His mother was still besotted with Poseidon and he didn't think that even if she did believe him she would share his hatred of the Gods enough to come with him.  
**_This will be the last time I see her until my task is complete _**he realised sadly as he punched the lift button for the thirteenth floor and the doors slid shut. **_I can't risk putting her in danger by communicating with her, and if I fail then it will be the last time ever._**  
Great another cheerful thought, he was having more and more of those since leaving camp Half-Blood.

He reached the door and knocked smartly, after a few moments Paul Blofis his step-father answered the door. His face was drawn and he had bags under his eyes as if he hadn't had any sleep.  
**_Not good.  
_**Paul's eyes widened slightly to see who the caller was "Oh Percy it's you. You're just the person we needed to see right now actually."  
"Why?" Percy enquired cautiously "Has something happened?"  
Paul glanced over his shoulder back into the flat "Sally got a call from camp in the middle of the night. She wouldn't tell me what about. All she said was that there had been an 'incident' at camp and that you were involved. She hasn't slept since and nothing I say seems to console her."  
He turned back to Percy "frankly the way she's acting I was worried you'd been killed. I'm glad to see that's not the case"  
**_You wouldn't be if you knew the real reason _**Percy thought bitterly, but aloud he said "I'm sure she will be too. Can I get in to see her?"  
"Sure" Paul said stepping aside to let Percy pass "you can keep her company whilst I pop out. We need more coffee; she hasn't stopped drinking it since she got off the phone."

Once the door had closed Percy moved into the lounge area to find Sally sitting on the sofa, her gaze boring a hole in the wall opposite. She didn't seem to notice him as he sat next to her. Not knowing what to say he sat silently and instead gingerly reached out placing his hand on her shoulder. She tensed under his touch and his heart clenched. She was scared of him, obviously Chiron had already told her about Jacob.  
"Why?" she croaked, her voice was dry and it was clear that she had only just stopped crying.  
His heart dropped into his trainers "What?" he asked trying to keep the fear out of his voice, although he already knew the answer.  
"Why did you murder a Roman ambassador Percy? Tell me it's not true. I don't want to believe it. Please . . . Percy, look at me and tell me it's not true."  
He tried to explain, as best he could the events of the night before. The only detail he left out was the fact that Thalia was gone, he knew that if he tried to talk about it he would have a complete mental collapse.  
"Why did you run away then?" she asked after he'd finished. It was clear she was still upset but she seemed to have relaxed slightly after having heard Percy's version of events. "If you were innocent why didn't you just tell Chiron what you told me?"

"I didn't get the chance. I was going to tell him before Annabeth and a hoard of delusional campers chased me right across the boundary line!" Then he made the gamble that he knew would either save or damn his mother. "Come with me. I'll find somewhere safe, a place where you'll be safe from the Gods."  
At first the only thing that registered on his mother's face was shock, but the revulsion he had expected did not follow. It seemed she could understand his motives even if she didn't share them.  
"Where? Where will you go? Where _can _you go?"  
He opted not to mention Cronus' guidance and instead said "Nowhere yet. I have some things to do in New York before I take my revenge on Aphrodite and the others"  
Too late he realised how evil he had just sounded and looked at Sally's face again to see true terror in his mother's eyes.  
"What are you thinking?" she asked disbelieving.  
He was committed now, no backing out "There's no thinking left mum. Aphrodite has taken everything from me. You are all I've got left and I can't lose you too. War and Love are the two greatest causes of pain on this Earth. Without that pain the world would be so much better."

The terror faded slightly to be replaced with confusion "But love also brings so much joy to people. What about me and Paul? Would you destroy that?"  
Percy realised she had a point "Yes but love should be by our own choice not given or destroyed at the whim of some meddling Goddess who finds it fun"  
"How can you work against Olympus after all they have done for you?"  
Percy was growing irritated now. Much as he needed his mother on side her love for Poseidon was blinding her to the God's faults.  
"How much _haven't _they done for us mum?" he retorted "And how much of what they did do has only made our lives worse? I mean, think about how many years you had to put up with Gabe because I was even born in the first place"  
"That's not fair Percy" but she looked thoughtful, as if she might actually agree with him. She looked away suddenly, out of the window as thunder rumbled around them.  
"What in the world?"

Percy looked also, and his blood turned to ice. Out of the window he could see thick black storm clouds gathering overhead. That didn't bother him that much. What terrified him was that the storm was forming directly above the apartment complex and nowhere else. He caught the familiar smell of ozone and the fear that had petrified him now forced him into action. He grabbed Sally's wrist and hauled her to her feet, dragging her towards the door. She resisted for a few seconds then seemed to sense the impending doom too.  
"Oh Gods no, he wouldn't"  
He would. As they reached the door a colossal explosion rocked the complex as a lightning bolt hit the roof, tearing through it and decimating the apartment with Sally and Percy still inside. Debris flew in every direction; destroyed furniture, burning fabric, plaster, tiles, and brick all airborne as a result of the blast. Percy was unharmed, protected by the curse of Achilles but his mother wasn't as fortunate. Several sizable chunks of debris hit her including the remains of the coffee table which whacked her hard in the back of the head. Percy heard the sickening crack and he nearly died right then and there. Then he caught himself and enfolded Sally in his arms, dropping to the floor, to protect her from the remaining debris and falling masonry as the roof collapsed entirely burying them both. Eventually all sound ceased. Percy lay still for a few more moments then shifted, trying to claw his way free of the rubble. When he finally broke the surface it was clear that even if the debris hadn't knocked him unconscious, the shock apparently had.

It was dark now, with the lights of emergency service vehicles sweeping across the night sky. Firemen on hydraulic bucket arms swept the destroyed apartment with torch light, searching for him and his mother, whilst others were in the wreckage hauling aside chunks of wall and demolished interior. He hesitated for a moment, wondering how they would respond to a teenage boy clambering unscathed from the wreckage but decided his mother was more important. He hailed them calling and waving, dragging aside a fallen support beams to reveal his mother. He couldn't see details until the lamps from the hydraulic arms focused on them but when he did he stopped calling. Sally was in a very bad way. Unconscious, bleeding, burned and breathing shallowly it was clear to Percy that she was inches from death. He sank to his knees digging furiously through the rubble to try and free her. His mind went blank to be replaced with one thought  
**_Not her too. I'll destroy _****all ****_of them!_**  
He completely forgot about the emergency service workers until two of them grabbed him under the arms and hauled him aside so their colleagues could reach his mother. They carefully lifted her onto a stretcher and removed from the building, Percy following dumbly in one of the hydraulic arms.

When he reached street level he glanced around and quickly spotted Paul surrounded by several police officers. After a few moments Paul noticed him too and forced his way through the press of policemen, paramedics and firemen to reach him.  
"What the hell happened Percy?" He shouted over the noise gesturing at the burnt out shell of the flat.  
Percy told him exactly what had happened. Paul stopped looking angry and started looking scared "Where's Sally? Where's your mother? Where's my wife?" He asked all three of these questions in rapid succession his voice getting louder and more distraught with each.  
"They're loading her into the ambulance" Percy answered, endeavouring to keep calm for Paul's sake "you should go with her" he pointed to the white vehicle where Sally Jackson was being lifted in by a team of paramedics.  
Paul wiped the tears from under his eyes "Your right. Come on she'll need to know you're ok when she comes too"  
Thunder rumbled overhead again.  
"No" Percy knew that if he risked it it could result in all their deaths "I have to get out of here before I do anyone else harm. Tell her when she wakes up that I am sorry and I will avenge her and myself"  
"Percy. Percy wait" but he'd already turned and bolted from the crowd before the police could detain him for questioning. No doubt they would find it suspicious that he was unharmed whilst his mother was in a critical condition. He ran for about fifteen minutes before finally collapsing in the shadow of a darkened doorway.

He closed his eyes and waited for sleep. It didn't take long; he was so exhausted from his exertions in the flat and in bolting from the scene.  
"Alright Cronus" he said into his black dreamscape "There's been a priority shift. So tell me what's first in bringing down _all _Olympus?"

* * *

**I will update with the next chapter as soon as I determine how I am going to move this forward. (I am having a minor case of writer's block at this stage)  
Otherwise thank you for your continued support. Please read and review.  
As always**

**Athena's Wisdom to you.**

**-Athena'sPride95**


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